Bowl bid within Golden Bears’ reach
Cal or UCLA will an clinch postseason eligibility with a win today in Pasadena
BERKELEY » As birthdays go, Jim Mora Jr. had a rough one last Sunday. He was fired as UCLA’s football coach.
It didn’t feel much better for Cal quarterback Ross Bowers, who turned 21 the day after the Bears lost 17-14 to Stanford, their eighth straight defeat in the Big Game.
“That was probably the worst birthday I’ve had,” said Bowers.
Bowers hopes to have more reason to celebrate Friday night, when the Bears face UCLA at the Rose Bowl with a postseason bid on the line.
The Bears (5- 6, 2- 6 Pac-12) and Bruins (5- 6, 3-5) both need towin to assure bowl eligibility.
It’s kind of like a playoff game. You’ve got to win to get the next one,” Bowers said. “We’re going to come out hungry. Last week’s loss was really tough on us.”
It’s a quick turnaround for the Bears, made busier by Thanksgiving. The team traveled south Thursday afternoon and enjoyed a holiday meal together. The rest of the trip is business.
“Getting to the postseason is a
goal of ours,” first-year Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “It would be huge for our seniors and our program for a lot of reasons. It’s a great opportunity for us.”
While UCLA administrators work to find their next coach — ex- 49ers coach Chip Kelly interviewed Tuesday — interim coach Jedd Fisch, the Bruins’ offensive coordinator, faces the same win- or-go home scenario as Cal.
Technically, it is possible — but not at all likely — for the Bears to earn a bowl bid without beating the Bruins. If there are not enough sixwin teams to fill all bowl spots, teams with five victories are taken in order of the highest Academic Progress Rate scores.
Entering play this week, there were 18 five- win teams chasing eight remaining bowl vacancies.
Here’s where it gets complicated: Eight of those 18 teams — including Cal and UCLA — are playing each other. So four teams are assured of reaching the sixwin plateau.
If the Bears lose to UCLA and must rely on their APR score, they would be knocked out by six remaining five-win teams that rate slightly higher. If Air Force beats Utah State to reach five wins, the Falcons also will leap above Cal on the APR ladder.
Chris Pezman, senior associate athletic director and Cal’s primary football administrator, was part of a conference call with Pac-12 officials Wednesday night and said there was no encouraging news.
“Right now I’d say it’s not looking good,” he said. “Current projections are there won’t be any five-win bowl selections available.”
Just the fact that Cal is positioned to possibly secure a bowl bid demonstrates how the Bears have exceeded outside expectations. Within the program, there was belief this could happen, and Wilcox suggested the team’s record could be better.